Bowling ball return



A. J. ALBRECHT BOWLING BALL RETURN Oct. 29,1963

Filed May 28, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TOR. W

6 IMM Oct. 29, 1963 A. J. ALBRECHT BOWLING BALL RETURN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 28, 1959 INV EN TOR.

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3,198,806 BSWLING BALL RETURN Alexander J. Albrecht, West Englewood, N..l., assignor,

by mesne assignments, to Brunswick Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 28, 1959, Ser. No. 816,606 8 Claims. (Cl. 27349) This invention relates to a bowling ball return and more particularly to a ball return for transferring a ball from a bowling alley pit to an overhead return track.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved bowling ball return in which a ball is rapidly moved upwardly from the pit area to an overhead return track and in which the presence of a ball in a transfer position is positively detected.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bowling ball handling device for moving a ball upwardly from a bowling alley pit and placing the ball on an overhead return track comprising, means for locating a ball in a transfer position in the pit including a pit cushion against which a ball engages, projecting means disposed beneath the transfer position and engageable with a ball at said position to impart an upward trajectory thereto along a path to place the ball on the return track, ball sensing means beneath the transfer position movable in a path toward the cushion to positively detect the presence of a ball by pinching of a ball between the sensing means and the cushion, and means controlling the operation of the projecting means whereby a ball is projected upwardly when the presence of a ball at the transfer position is positively detected by the ball sensing means.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a bowling alley and the ball return mechanism associated therewith with the alley shown in section and the ball return mechanism shown in elevation and taken generally along line 1--1 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section of a bowling alley'and the ball return mechanism on an enlarged scale and taken generally along line 22 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 33 in FIG. 1.

As shown in the drawings the bowling alley has an alley bed 19 with a pit 11 to the rear thereof and spaced apart kickbacks 12 and 13 at opposite sides of the alley.

A movable pit board 15 is disposed within the pit and functions to direct pins rearwardly toward a pin elevator 16 at a side of the pit and, more particularly, at the rear thereof. The pin elevator 16 functions by rotation thereof to elevate pins to a pin discharge station. A pin curtain 17 extends across the alley between kickbacks 12 and 13 and is supported thereby to prevent flying pins from moving therebeyond.

The invention disclosed herein embodies a ball return in which a ball 2% may leave a transfer position on the pit board 15 and have an upward trajectory given thereto along a ball center line path indicated by a broken line 21 to have the ball land upon a ball return track composed of spaced apart tracks 22 and 23. The tracks 22 and 23 are suspended from the kickbacks 12 and 13 and extend through the kickback 13 to carry a ball back to the bowlers end of the alley. In order to impart suflicient velocity to the ball whereby it will travel the length of the alley a driven ball engaging wheel 24 overlies the return track at the point where the track is directed toward the bowlers end of the alley and is driven by a motor 25 to impart the desired velocity to the returning ball.

The trajectory path 21 is given to a ball 20 by a ball projecting means, indicated generally at 26, disposed beneath the pit board 15. The operation of the ball projecting means 26 is controlled by a ball sensing means, indicated generally at 27, which positively detects the presence of a ball at the transfer position on the pit board 15.

The pit board 15 has a ball locating cavity or pocket 3%) in which a ball may rest and the pit board 15 is sloped toward the cavity both longitudinally and transversely thereof whereby a ball will roll to said transfer position. The ball is maintained in this position by a pit cushion 31 extending across the alley and located above the pit' board 15 a distance sufficient to permit pins to passtherebeneath towards the pin elevator'16, while being sufficiently close to the pit board to contact a ball Zti. The'pit cushion 31 has a forward lower edge 32 and a rearwardly inclined front face 33 positioned to the rearof the cavity 30 in the pit board 15. The forward lower edge 32 of the pit cushion coacts with ball sensing means as more fully described hereinafter while the inclined front face 33 of the pit cushion permits clearance of the ball in its upward movement along the trajectory path 21.

The ball projecting means 26 comprises a kicking or projecting member 35 movable between upper and lower positions shown in broken and full lines respectively, in FIG. 3. The upper end of the member 35 is slightly dished to conform with the contour of a ball and lies within an opening 36 formed in the pit board cavity 3i). The projecting member 35-is mounted for movement by pivoted connection to a pair of parallel linkages '38 and 39 which are pivotally mountedon a mounting bracket 46 carried on the floor of the pit. The upper parallel link 38 it attached to'a shaft 41 mounted in the bracket 40 and extending transversely to a second bracket 42a mounted on the alley pit floor. The shaft 41 carries an operating member 42 in the form of a cam follower arm having a cam 43 thereon which is urged toward a cam 44 by a relatively heavy spring 45 connected between the arm 42 and a pin 46 attached to the bracket 42a. The cam 44 is mounted on a shaft 47 for rotation therewith and the shaft 47 is driven from the motor 25 by means of a belt 48 passing about a pulley 49 on the output shaft of the motor 25 and a pulley 50 on the shaft 47.

With the cam fol-lower 43 on the high part of the cam 44 the projecting member 35 will be in its lower inoperative position as shown in full line in FIG. 3. Upon continuedrotation of'the cam 44 at a fast rate of speed in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2 the cam follower 43 will rapidly move onto a relatively steep portion 51. of the cam whereby the spring 45 may exert force upon the cam follower arm 42 which through the shaft 41 will impart an upward kick to the projecting member 35.

. As an example, in order to impart the trajectory 21 to a bowling ball 29- the spring 45 must overcome an inertia load of approximately 25 0 pounds at the projecting member 35 to impart the trajectory 'having approximately a height of 17" and initial trajectory angle of with re- I spect to the horizontal. This gives an initial velocity to the ball of slightly less than 10 feet per second and the sloped portion 51 of the cam is designed to give this along with a spring rate for the spring 45 in the order of 500 pounds'per inch of deflection.

nan sensing means to deter-mine the presence of a ball at the transfer position on the pit board 15 are provided and function to control the operation of the ball projecting means 26. This ball sensing means 27 embodies a sensing lever 52 having its upward end positioned in an opening 53 in the cavity '30 of the pit board and mounted on' a rotatable shaft 54 extending between the mounting brackets 40 and 42a. An interlock lever 55 onthe shaft 54 is' disposed adjacent the cam follower arm 42 to perform an' 7 interlock function. With the interlock lever 55 positioned Patented Get. 29, 1963 a, ioasoe as shown in FIG. 2 the free end thereof is out of alignment with a pin 56 on the cam follower arm 42 and thus the cam follower arm 42 is free to move inwardly on the cam 44 under theurging of the spring 45 during each cycle of rotation of the cam 44-. The interlock lever 55 is rotatably urged in a counterclockwise direction by a spring 57 connected between the pin 46 and the interlock lever which tends to urge the sensing member 52, upwardly through the opening 53 in the pit board. This yieldable movement of the sensing member 52 is cyclically controlled by a cam 58 mounted on the rotatable shaft 47 engageable with a follower 59 on the interlock member 55 whereby once in each cycle of rotation of the shaft 47 a the spring 57 becomes effective to yieldably urge the sensing member 52 upwardly beyond the cavity 30 in the pit board.

In operation it will thus be seen that with-a ball located on the cavity 30 in the pit board the ball will engage against the forward lower edge 32 of the pit cushion and upon rotation of the sensing cam 58 to a position whereby the spring 57 becomes effective the sensing member 52 will be urged in a direction toward the pit cushion. The sensing member 52 cannot move because of the pinching action of a ball between the member and the lower edge 32 of the cushion when a ball is present. This positively detects the presence of a ball and thus the interlock lever 55 is not free to move downwardly into alignment with the pin 56 on the operating member 42 for the projecting mechanism and thus the projecting mechanism will propel a ball upwardly under the control of the cam 44- and spring 45 with the ball. having the trajectory 21. This upward movement of the ball is free and clear of the pit cushion due to the inclination of the fiont face 33 thereof.

During each cycle of revolution of the shaft 47 the sensing member 52 will be yieldab'ly urged into the cavity 39 of the pit board and if-a ball is not present the sensing member and interlock lever 55 will complete their movement and thus the interlock lever will align with the pin 56 on the operating member for the projecting mechanism to prevent the upward kick of the projecting member 35.

The motor is continuously rotating and thus the shaft 47 is also continuously rotating to continuously op crate the ball return through its sensing cycle and a ball projecting cycle if the presence of a ball is sensed.

The spring 57 of the sensing mechanism is designed whereby the force thereof is less than the weight component of a bowling ball 26 acting downwardly against the sensing member 52 to thus avoid any upward displacement of the bowling ball.

With the sensing mechanism disclosed herein the ball projecting means 25 only operates upon the positive detection of a ball and avoids any reliance upon the weight of a-ball as an actuator for sensing the ball presence which is unreliable because of the wide allowable variation of bowling ball Weights. The relatively rapid upward reinoval of a bowling ball from the pit board 15 enables the more efiicient collection, elevation and distribution of bowling pins with a consequent speedup in the operation of an automatic pinsetter.

I claim:

1. A bowling ball handling device for removing a ball from a bowling alley pit and placing the ball on an elevatedreturn track comprising, means for locating a ball in a transfer position in the pit including a pit cushion against which a ball engages, ball projection means disposed beneath the transfer position and engageable with the ball to impart an upward free-flight trajectory thereto along a path to place the ball on thereturn track, ball sensing means beneath the transfer position movable in a path toward the cushion to detect the absence of a ball, and means responsive to the movement of the-ball sensing means to prevent movement of the ball-projecting means. 2. A ball removal device for removing a bowling ball from a bowling alley pit comprising, means for locating a ball in a transfer position in the pit comprising a pit board sloped toward a ball pocket formed therein and a pit cushion disposed above the board and to one side of the pocket, a ball return track located above the pit cushion, ball projecting means having a member beneath and projcctable through said. pocket, means for moving said member upwardly through the pocket at a rate to impart an upward free-flight trajectory to the ball whereby the ball lands on the track, and ball sensing means having a member beneath and movable through the pocket toward the pit cushion whereby a ball is pinched between the sensing member and cushion to positively detect the presence thereof, and means controlling the operation of the projecting means whereby the projecting member operates when the presence of a ball in the pocket is detected.

3. A ball return for use with a bowling alley having an alley bed and a pit to the rear thereof comprising, a pit board, said pit board having a ball receiving cavity and sloped theretowards, a pit cushion overlying the pit board blocking rearward movement of a ball and positioned immediately to the rear of said cavity, said cushion having a rearwardly sloping front face, a ball return track mounted above the pit cushion and leading to a side of the alley, means defining a pair of openings in the pit board at said cavity, ball projecting means located beneath the pit board including a projecting member positioned in one of said openings, means mounting said member for limited upward movement, and means for imparting an upward kick to said member including a relatively heavy spring urging said member upwardly and a rotatable cam with a steep contour permitting the spring to become eiiective, and ball sensing means located beneath the pit board including a sensing member positionable in and movable through the other pit board opening toward the pit cushion, means for moving the sensing member toward the pit cushion and to a position to block the projecting member including a driven cam whereby the pinching of a 7 ball between the sensing member and pit cushion sub stantially prevents movement of the sensing member whereby the projecting member is not blocked and kicks upward to impart an upward trajectory to a ball,

4. A bowling ball handling device for elevating a ball from a pit to an overhead return track comprising, a

pit board adapted to locate a ball in a transfer position and having an opening at said position, and a ball projecting mechanism located beneath the pit board including a projecting member mounted for upward movement through said opening, a parallel linkage mounting said member for said movement, a movable operator for said member having a cam follower thereon, a rotatable cam having a relatively steep slope on a part thereof and engageable by said follower, a spring urging said follower toward the cam, whereby movement of the follower onto said steep slope imparts a kick to the member which impels the ball upwardly in free movement a distance greater than the movement of the member onto the return track, and sensing means deing'a ball from the transfer position to the track, and

ball sensing means having a member beneath and movable through the transfer position toward the pit cushion 1 whereby a ball is pinched between the sensing memberand cushion to positively detect the presence thereof;

and means controlling the operation of the ball raising' means whereby the latter means operates when the presence of a ball at said transfer position is detected.

6. A bowling ball handling device for, removing a ball from a transfer position in a bowling alley pit and placing the ball on an elevated return track comprising, projection means disposed beneath the transfer position and engageable with the ball to impart an upward free-flight trajectory thereto along a path to place the ball on the return track, ball sensing means beneath the transfer position movable in a path toward a ball, means for moving the ball sensing means and means responsive to the movement of the ball sensing means to prevent movement of the projecting means.

7. A ball return for use with a bowling alley having an alley bed and a pit to the rear thereof comprising, a pit board having a ball receiving cavity and sloped theretowards, a pit cushion overlying the pit board blocking rearward movement of a ball and positioned immediately to the rear of said cavity, a ball return track mounted at a level above the pit cushion, means defining a pair of openings in the pit board at said cavity, ball projecting means located beneath the pit board including a projecting member positioned in one of said openings, means mounting said member for limited upward movement, and means for imparting an upward lkick to said member, and ball sensing means located beneath the pit board including a sensing member p0- sitionable in and movable through the other pit board opening toward the pit cushion, means for moving the sensing member toward the pit cushion and to a position to block the projecting member whereby the pinching of a ball between the sensing member and pit cushion substantially prevents movement of the sensing member whereby the projecting member is not blocked and kicks upward to impart an upward free-flight trajectory to a ball.

8. A ball removal device for removing a bowl-ing ball from a bowling alley pit comprising, pin conveying means in the pit, means for locating a bail in a transfer position within the perimeter of said pin conveying means, a ball return track located in a position at a level above said transfer position, ball projecting means having a movable member normally located beneath said pin conveying means, means beneath said pin conveying means mounting said movable member for substantially straight line movement toward said traok and for a total distance which is a minor part of the distance between said transfer position and said tracik, means located beneath said pin conveying means for moving said member upwardly at a rate to impart an upward free-flight trajectory to the ball whereby the ball lands on the track, and means for sensing the presence of a ball at said transfer position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,341,476 Parra et a1. Feb. 8, 1944- 2,6l1,6 l4 Hagquist Sept. 23, 1952 2,707,105 Anderson et a1. Apr. 26, 1955 2,803,463 Congelli Aug. 20, 1957 2,815,743 Brunderman Dec. 10, 1957 2,979,333 Albrecht et al Apr. 11, 1961 

6. A BOWLING BALL HANDLING DEVICE FOR REMOVING A BALL FROM A TRANSFER POSITION IN A BOWLING ALLEY PIT AND PLACING THE BALL ON AN ELEVATED RETURN TRACK COMPRISING, PROJECTION MEANS DISPOSED BENEATH THE TRANSFER POSITION AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE BALL TO IMPART AN UPWARD FREE-FLIGHT TRAJECTORY THERETO ALONG A PATH TO PLACE THE BALL ON THE RETURN TRACK, BALL SENSING MEANS BENEATH THE TRANSFER POSITION MOVABLE IN A PATH TOWARD A BALL, MEANS FOR MOVING THE BALL SENSING MEANS AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE BALL SENSING MEANS TO PREVENT MOVMENT OF THE PROJECTING MEANS. 